OSHKOSH - The public would be allowed to address the Winnebago County Board about any topic, regardless of whether it's on the agenda, under a new proposal that caused a row at Tuesday's board meeting.

The county board voted 24-10 Tuesday to send the proposal to the Judiciary and Public Safety Committee for further review.

Supervisor Aaron Wojciechowski introduced the resolution a month after supporters of the Oshkosh SpeedZone Raceway were not allowed to speak at the board's June 21 meeting. County board policy states that public comment may address only items on the agenda.

Supervisor Robert Warnke said it should not have been a surprise to SpeedZone supporters that they would not be able to speak at the June 21 meeting.

"These people were told by me that they would not be able to speak, but they still chose to come," Warnke said. "They knew well in advance that they wouldn't be able to speak.

"Nobody's trying to cut anybody off, but we still need the rules," Warnke said. "This has worked so far; I don't see any reason to change this. It's working good, but the people who come in with stuff have to go according to the rules."

After the June 21 meeting, Paul Eisen, who serves on the committee, proposed changing board policy to allow public comment about any topic, regardless of whether it was on the agenda, but the committee, in effect, refused to take up the issue after nobody seconded his motion.

With how "super energetic" supervisors tend to become about certain issues, allowing the public to comment on issues not on the agenda would increase the likelihood that supervisors would inadvertently start discussing those issues, Chairman David Albrecht said.

"You can't afford to start a debate on something that's not on the agenda," Albrecht said, noting doing so would violate open meetings law.

Supervisor Claud Thompson disagreed that allowing public comment would lead to board discussions.

"When people speak to us, we do not necessarily — or at all — have to agree to a debate," Thompson said. "When people speak to us, they speak to us, and we don't have to get into a debate with them."

Although he opposed sending the measure back to committee that previously refused to take it up, Eisen said he hopes the board will consider adopting the resolution.

"Let's go back and perfect this resolution, so it can be acceptable for our rules to go forward and give the public an opportunity to exercise their constitutional rights under the First Amendment," he said.

Reach Nathaniel Shuda at 920-426-6632 or nshuda@thenorthwestern.com; on Twitter: @onwnshuda.